


Tribute

by AlphWolf45



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alien Culture, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cultural Differences, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-05 03:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11004699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphWolf45/pseuds/AlphWolf45
Summary: Supergirl AUA new and very dangerous Krypton molded a different Kara. Earth wasn't that exactly the Paradise that Kara was envisioning.





	1. Loss

**Author's Note:**

> It's been awhile since I've written anything. Gotta say, its my irritation at CW's Season 2 that inspired this little story. This first chapter ended up with a tad more angst than I had originally planned. Hopefully succeeding chapters won't read like the angst ball that is the Arrow but considering the topics I want to cover, it really isn't looking to head into fluff territory so y'all have been warned.

You cannot understand, nor do you want to.

-Spec Ops: The Line

 

National City was quiet. No robberies, no fires, no accidents. A rare night.

The sounds of cars echoed off the buildings. The soft murmur of the thousand voices and the thousand heartbeats filled her ears.

She remembers that place far away. The one that exists only in her faded memories. It wasn’t as diverse as this one. It was a rigid place with a stoical people. Divisions were clear. Associations always had meaning beyond pleasure of company.

Her House sat at the pinnacle. Whispers of a divine descendant always brought that hidden pride to well up in her chest.

An Honored House her parents said time and time again. Guests were regular in their visits and importance. She remembered having to be formal all those time. Stick a fake smile on her face when all she wanted to do was read her books.

Her hands always twitched to try her hand at the works of the Artist Guild but she was an El, daughter of Alura In-Ze and Zor-El destined for the Science or Justice Guild. She had two choices. She was already luckier than most.

She had shared her desire with her Aunt Astra.

Uncle Non had heard her and he sat her on his knee. “Kara,” he said. “One day, we will make it so that you may join any Guild you wish.” He kissed her forehead.

“Is that true, Aunt Astra?” She remembered saying Aunt Astra gave her a wide smile.

She picked her up and spun her around. She then drew her close and nuzzled her. “Little One,” She had said in her ear. “When have we ever lied to you?”

Then they left on an important mission. She never saw her Uncle again. She saw her Aunt one brief time after that.

Then, everything was thrown into chaos. Earthquakes happened with too much frequency. There were reports of members of the Labor Guild being eaten by the ground as they worked on the last few fertile fields.

Masks of her peers fell as panic swept the higher political and religious orders. There was a mass gathering at all hours at the gates of the Religious Guild. Demands of why were met with silence.

Blasphemy swept the streets. Rao’s abandonment was screamed to all that would listen and it would be countered by claims of Cythonna’s revenge. Not enough worship to Rao weakened him to the point the goddess returned to raze everything to ruin.

The scientific members were quiet in the chaos. Faces etched in shame and acceptance, they prepared for what they had foreseen.

The mighty politicians issued one last condemnation. A general recall of all ambassadors. Only a few in far off reaches of the galaxy would survive. An insignificant number than ensure that with the passing of the generation, the self-genocide would be complete.

Her families’ secret escape revealed to her in the final minutes. Her father and Uncle Jor-El raced her to the pod that would allow her escape.

Her families’ guard would look at her with a strange look. One mixed with pity and hope and envy. The Captain of the Guard stopped them. He knelt, handing her a dagger, one of practical use. He looked up at the two men, inclined his head and removed himself from their path.

Uncle nodded back and we resumed racing toward the room.

She remembered being so lost. It was so fast. A promise to protect her cousin. To delay the death of Krypton.

She had failed.

Arrived too late and banished by her only blood relative. He didn’t speak her – their – language. He chose to send her away without allowing for any sort of adjustment to the strange new world.

She was afraid.

She looked at the sky. A yellow sun beating down on her reminding her of her loss. Her people gone. Her culture gone. Her God gone.

Then, they took away her language. Too dangerous they said. The questions people would ask. They forced on her this strange tongue, practicing and practicing until her accent disappeared.

She prayed while they slept. Waited until the breathing evened out and prayed to Rao in secret, in silence. They had already taken so much.

They were an inattentive people after they had deemed her acceptable, lost in their primitive science. She only really had Alex to bond with.

Except…

Alex resented her. She felt her irritation every time she fumbled and made a mistake. Every time, Jeremiah and Eliza would chastise Alex for every misstep. So, she learned to hide. Hidden, no one would see her mistakes and Alex wouldn’t be punished.

It didn’t work. She had to be a hero and save the mother and child. She had to be impulsive and take Alex flying.

She had to be invisible, not just hidden.

Sometimes she would wonder if staying on Krypton would have been a preferable fate. She was already an empty shell of Kara Zor-El, daughter of Rao and Krypton.

She sighed and shook out the dreary thought.

The city lights glistening of revealing the architecture reminded her that this city would never be the home she remembered in her youth. She sat on the railing, her booted feet dangling precariously off over the side. Her hood eclipsed her face in shadow.

She rolled her shoulders. Her dark blue leather jacket road up slightly as she stretched upward, her hands interlocked. A habit of feigning human discomforts that she didn't feel.

Soft footfalls came from behind her. The balcony door slid open.

A beat.

"It's a beautiful view don't you think?" He whispers. He knew his voice would be heard in her sensitive ears. She said nothing as he moved to lean against the glass door. He slid down and lifted his leg to lay his head on his knee.

A bird flew past.

She motioned toward it. "By the time I was born, there was little in the way of wildlife left. Imagine my surprise when I awoke on this planet to see so much...life. I stared at them for weeks, months even, unable to look away."

"You still don't." He said simply. "You watch and look and take it all in." He paused. "It isn't enough is it?"

She clenched her fist. ’No.’ she thought. She stared as it flew away. She took a deep breath and drew her arm back. She dug into herself.

They sat there in a calm silence. She listened to his steady heart. One beat. Two beats. Three beats. She counts all the way up to one hundred eighty seven before he broke the silence.

"I hear things. Of a nice stranger helping out those caught out in the less savory areas."

Her shoulders dropped lower. Her head drooped and she stared at the empty sidewalk. She spotted a couple turning the corner. They had a stroller in between them, one hand to each handle. The woman smiled broadly and made wild gestures. The man laughed and gave her a peck on the cheek. Her spine strengthened. She lifted her head. She turned around to face him and stood on the balcony floor.

She looked down to him. "I won't stop."

He looked at her eyes. He shook his head. "I'm not asking you to." He gave her smile. She smiled back slightly.

She hopped on her feet twice before deciding to sit facing him.

She pulls back to hood. "I still think I'd be fine without this thing."

He looked at her exasperated. "We've talked about this. Glasses are not a disguise."

She rolled her eyes and pouts. "I look like that Bat from Gotham." He busted out laughing. "I'm serious." She bopped his nose. "If I turn all broody, it's on you."

He looked at her softly and gave her a toothy grin.

She looked at this human and some part of her wonders if all have gone according to plan, Kal would have been the one looking at her like that. She stood back up and turned back to look at the city. He chuckled softly then sighed.

"I want the best for them. All of them."

"I know."

"One day, they'll force you out. Those… vultures you work with are just waiting for a juicy story and you're it.” He let those words sink in. “You won't be able to hide forever and then they'll grow to rely on you. A hero instead of themselves."

"And when that day comes, I trust you to do what is necessary to avoid that.” People who do what she does just treat the symptoms. The cause still remains, waiting to infect its next victim. “Remind them I won't always be here. Remind them to save themselves."

When that day comes, National City will never be the same. Every city with a guardian beckoned challengers to try their luck and dethrone the protector. With each successful defense, the next challenger is more than likely to be stronger than the last. A cycle of madness and destruction.

At least construction companies thrived in such environments.

He sighed. "They will come for that crest on your sleeve. They will come for you to get to him." She glanced over her shoulder. He looked at her masked face.

She touches her left shoulder. She taps the stylized 'S' twice. "Don't you think it's ironic that he doesn't know what this means? What it really means." She smiled. He could see the heart wrenching sadness hidden underneath. "He doesn't want to know. He's human in all intents and purposes. He wants to nothing on the world he was born on." Every time she suggests teaching him; he finds ways to end the conversation, to talk of other inconsequential things.

She wonders if he longed to know who he could have been. She wonders if knowing where she came from is worth the pain.

He leans back and stretched his legs on the balcony floor. "We are both the same."

"Yeah."

They were both orphans pushed to overcome tragedy and forced to pretend everything's okay. She was the alien with incredible powers too dangerous to be overly emotional for fear of hurting others. He was the genius heir to a fortune surrounded by greedy immoral excuses for human beings whom would take everything if he showed even the sliver of weakness.

She felt knot form in her stomach. "I already lost Alex. I don't want to lose you too." Her hand found its way onto the railing. She could feel the metal warping. She jerked back and hugged herself instead.

He stood up and joined her, leaning on an undamaged portion of the railing. She shot him an apologetic smile. He drew her into a hug and squeezed. "Have some faith. She'll come back to us."

She wished she could have believed him.

She sighed. "It's not like you to be so hopeful."

He took a deep breath. "And it's not like you to have so little faith." He said finally.

"She hates me. Wants nothing to do with the alien that killed her parents."

"No. That wasn't your fault-"

"I know what I did."

That night...

The smell of dinner sitting on the table. Eliza made pie for dessert. She loved pie.

_Stop._

The analog clock marking the passing time. Tick tock.

The weatherman droning on in the background. A chance of snow over the weekend.

The absence of a heartbeat.

A broken plate. Aw, it's the one with the flowers on it.

_Stop it._

A shoe. Eliza leaves her shoes in the foyer. Always. A foot.

Oh. Oh no... Jeremiah just... No, Alex can't be like them. An orph- no...NO!

Eliza was cold and blue. Humans aren't supposed to be that color.

_Alex…_

Oh Rao. She didn't know what to do. She had to get help. She needed Alex. Where's Ale-

"Kara!" She gasped for breath. Coughing, she sunk to her knees. Her hands were trembling. Her palms dug into her eyes, hoping to rub away the memories. Tears threatened to stream down her face "Kara...Kara stop. You're going to hurt yourself." He dropped his knees and cupped her face. His grey eyes were filled with worry. "One day, we'll be together again, the three of us. Just like we used to."

"You always say that but-" she voice cracked. But it's been so long. She hasn't come back.

Silence fell over them. Kara slowly calmed down. He didn’t want her to leave, well aware of her bad habit of repressing everything.

She took a couple deep breaths and turned to him. He knew then, she wasn’t going to stay. Her eyes were cool. Anything he’d say would be waved off. He had to let her go tonight.

He’ll have to make sure Winn looks after her at work tomorrow. She straightened up. She gave him that bright fake smile. "See you soon Max."

"Kara, take care of yourself.” He wished he didn’t have to worry this much.

"I know." She jumped up and flew into the sky, unnoticed.

Max walked back into his office and fell into his chair. He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. He booted up his computer. He navigated his way through file after file until he got to his destination. It was of Alex, Kara, and himself in front of Midvale’s shoreline. Alex was smiling, holding on to a surf board. Kara beaming at her elder sister with a trophy in hand. Himself, beardless, with his characteristic smirk, looking at the camera. They were happy.

"Alex," he wondered aloud. "What the hell are you doing?"


	2. Comfort

Giles: You mean life?  
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?  
Giles: What do you want me to say?  
Buffy: Lie to me.  
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.  
Buffy: Liar.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Episode 7 “Lie to Me”

 

In a less savory part of town, two of National City's finest gossiped like no one's business. 

"Can you believe it?" Officer Expo said. "Guys by the port saying about some superhero operating outta the dock. Ya know, acting like a small time National City Superman" 

"Nah," replied Officer Sition. "It's probably some tough guy thinkin' 'bout playin' hero."

"I thought so too but listen," Expo looked around the cruiser's window looking out for possible easdroppers. "I heard something from those stiffs upstairs."

Sition shot a look at Expo. "You need to stop calling the bosses 'stiffs'"

"I will when they stop acting like they got a stick shoved up-“

“Ok, ok,” Sition interrupted. Her face contorted into one of absolute disgust.”Jesus, I didn’t need a fuckin’ visual.” 

Expo laughed. “Come on, ain’t you the only one who didn’t puke when we worked that Vorcha case? It was literally munching on half of a squirrel and all you did was to tell it to go back into the forest.”

Sition’s disgust turned into a grimace. “My imagination is worse than seeing that fucked up shit.”

Expo laughed some more and ruffled Sition’s hair. “Kid, ain’t that the truth.”

She swatted his hand away. “Whatever ya geezer.” Sition pouted.

“Hey, by the way, ya know Sawyer, that transfer from Batland?"

Sition rolled her eyes. "Of course I know about her. I maybe an anti-social asshole but I ain't deaf or blind."

"Yeah whatever.” Expo waved dismissively. “So anyway, the high ups apparently got a soft spot for her. Buttered up her transfer and landed her a spot in Narcs."

"That hell hole?" 

Expo snorted. "She asked for it. Anyway, she went around looking for a squeaker for Ricky's case and looks like she stuck her nose a little too deep in port business." 

Sition eyes filled with concern. "Yeah yeah. The, uh Familia or something like that used that port ta ship narcs in... or was it counterfeit designer shit?"

"The Familia did the narcs dumbass. One of the gangs does the designer shit."

"Whatever. So Sawyer make it out ok? I’ve been out sick but I ain’t hear about anyone takin’ a bus or anything."

"Word is that a Superwannabe helped Sawyer weasel out of getting 'disappeared' and get papers busting their op." Expo explained.

Sition relaxed and smiled slightly. "So that giant ass case Narc is baskin' in came from their newbie Detective?"

"Yeah and now it looks like brass is covering that Vigi's ass and taking in the thugs he catches." Expo said gleefully.

Sition stretched as much as the seat allowed. "Sure ain't doin' us any favors with how roughed up he gives them to us."

Expo waved her off. “Nah, Vigi’s getting better at leaving them undamaged.”

“Vigi’s alright by me.” Sition rested her head on the wheel. “We could use the help with them off-worlders so it’ll be easier on us to focus on lurkers.”

“Damn right.”

......

Kara stretched on the soft grass of the park. The moon was high on the sky glistening as it had from the balcony of Max' office. 

She hummed a lullaby, tracing the design on her metal breastplate. The rough patched of etched into the metal twisted into beautiful fire. She moved her finger across the outline of a wing until moving down the neck. She paused as she reached the head of the creature. Feeling it, she closed her eyes. 

She remembered the painting she’d seen in her father’s study of the two interlocked creatures and the Builder creating joyfully unaware of the tragedy that was to befall them all.  


She sighed and continued to trace the design.

She heard familiar footsteps come toward her. She smiled as the detective sat next to her. 

Kara opened her eyes and said, "Maggie, I'm hungry." She wasn't kidding either. 

Maggie chuckled softly as she sat down next to her. "Kid, you're always hungry." 

Kara liked Maggie. She could talk to her and expect an honest answer. Best of all perhaps was that she didn’t know what Max knew. Unbiased and all that.

On her feeding habits, she also had a fair point, Kara decided. Nevertheless…

"'Cuz you never feed me."

Maggie knocked at her stomach. Kara could feel the whisper of the impact reverberating from metal breastplate. Maggie shot her a sly grin. "If I did that, I'd live in a box on the beach." 

Kara beamed at her. "You'd always have a great view."

The two women stared at each other. “I can smell it.” Kara said as her stare slowly morphed into a pout. 

Maggie lasted an impressive minute before she caved. "Ugh, fine.” She dug into the bag. She took one out and said with a serious face, “One taco. One and only one." 

It couldn’t hurt to ask. "Two?" 

"Nope." 

Kara thought for a second and then decided not to push her luck. She sat up, took her prize and they ate in a comfortable silence.

"How's the reading coming along?" Maggie said, breaking the silence. 

Kara groaned and flopped back into the ground. "Finished it." She mumbled. It was just her luck that her new friend forced her to read the entire California Law code and a book on ‘appropriate levels of force for Law Enforcement’. At least legality is a lot more malleable when it came to off-worlders with unusual abilities… which carried its own set of problems. 

"Already?" Maggie said skeptically. 

Kara nodded. "Well it wasn't that long. I only had trouble with some of the words but I figured it out." English was just so weird.

"So English isn't your first language..." Maggie said, her head tilted playfully.

Kara laughed and shot her a toothy smile. "Still not telling you my name." 

She's been trying since they've met. While Kara had no qualms about telling Maggie, Max had repeatedly and strongly advised against it. Not that she didn't know he was currently scouring the Detective's digital footprint, Kara figured that in no time at all she'll be able to persuade him to her side.

"You've got to tell me some day." Maggie huffed playfully.

Kara hoped it’ll be sooner rather than later. "That'll be the day you buy me all the tacos I want."

"Yeah yeah, sayin' it'll never happen doesn't make it true."

"So how has the life of Sawyer been going about?"

Maggie grinned dimmed. "Well, there was this Fed lurking about looking into some of the more interesting cases."

That didn’t sit well with Kara. "The ones involving off-worlders?"

"Yup. Anyway, she goes around looking at all our cases. Montoya, being the outstanding cop that she is decides to blab about “Vigi”.” Maggie’s easy going demeanor slipped into something decidedly more unfriendly.

Kara’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Vigi?” 

“It’s what we call you. Unoriginal I know.” Maggie rested her head on one of her knees, thinking before continuing. “I got a weird vibe from her.”

“How?” 

“I’m getting a feeling she doesn’t have bad intentions but I really don’t want her digging any deeper in those NCPD cases.” She paused. “She doesn’t need to know that,” She said, tapping on metal, “isn’t what makes you bullet proof.”

Kara shot her another smile. “Aw, you do care.”

Maggie chuckled slightly. “I got your back kid.” 

Kara thought of the aliens Maggie had asked her to keep an eye on. The bar, the clinic, the safe houses full of refugees. “And theirs.”

“And theirs too.” Maggie confirmed.

They slipped into silence and sat there until finally duty called them away. 

..........

Kara flew up next to her cousin. She’d heard the news. Lex Luthor and a machine. The Earthquake. So many dead and her baby cousin disappearing after he was no longer needed.

He barely spared her a glance. "What are you doing here."

She didn't answer him. She looked at him. He jaw was clenched. Hands tight together and arms crossed, he looked like he wanted nothing more than to utterly obliterate his target. 

"You're watching her rather intently, K... Clark." She said.

She glanced in his direction and watched as his jaw tightened. "Her brother is a madman who killed hundreds with his machine." He spat out.

Her eyes flickered back to the office building in front of them, the Luther name proudly displayed in large, white lettering. "You know as well as I do that she is not her brother.”

"Lois was there." He interrupted.

"Clark..."

"No." He took deep breaths, struggling to control himself. "She's fine. Just some scrapes."

She looked at him incredulously. "Go be with your mate. Don't waste time here doing nothing" 

"Nothing?" He explodes. He points at the building. "She's his sister. She could be just as dangerous as he was."

"Do you think I don't know the price of inaction? The cost?" She whispers, eyes narrowing. 

He threw up his arms. "And look what happened? Krypton is dead-" 

"And you think I don't know that?” She interrupted. “I saw it. I lived it."

"Then how do you let yourself do nothing?” He plowed on. “In that building in a mind that can create mindless slaughter of innocence while trying to kill us?"

Kara looked him in the eye. "Who are we to be the judge. To sentence another for what they might potentially do?"

"Kara..." 

"No, you can't get emotional about this Clark.” 

He was taken aback."I'm not-"

"Yes you are. This is the first time something happened and you couldn't prevent her from being injured.” Kara paused, letting her words sink in. She continued in a softer voice. “It's understandable you feel the way you do but the power you hold,” she said as she took his hands in hers, “The influence you have doesn't allow you to act this way.”

She felt him begin to tremble. She drew him into a tight hug.

"I remember when I told you that." He whispered, the air from his breath ghosted over her neck. "You were so small and I was so young. I.... wasn't ready."

She squeezed him tighter."You gave me a place to call home." She said warmly.

"After what happened,” He began, “I can't help but think if you'd just stayed with me-" 

"No more regrets.” She drew away from him and smiled sadly. "We can't change the past and think of paths not taken."

“I… I’m still sorry Kara.” 

She shook her head. "Clark, leave this place and go be with your mate." She says firmly. "She’s what matters right now."

He didn’t look convinced. “I’ll stay here for tonight if it makes you feel better. Go.” 

He nodded and turned to leave but stopped. He looked back at her and said, "Kara...” He shuffled uncomfortably in place. His eyes dropped to the ground. “Clark doesn't sound right coming from you."

She smiled slightly. "Go home, Kal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile. In that time, I've managed to watch BvS, Wonder Woman and watch some of my favorite episodes of Supergirl. Thinking about the DC CWverse during this hiatus has left me conflicted. 
> 
> New details of the show are coming out and I'm seriously not liking it one bit. I've barely clung on with season 2's poor writing (imo of course) and now after CC news and the Justice League Trailer has me more hyped for the DCEU than I am for Supergirl Season 3. 
> 
> It's a pity really. That interview and song that's been making it's rounds around Twitter just solidified the fact that I won't be watch SG live anymore so I guess I'll either to watching third party or watch clips on YT. 
> 
> But hey, at least I got Supergirl fanfic and Wynonna Earp to look forward to.


	3. Midvale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brought to you by Supergirl's New 52 and Rebirth comics with a push from 3x06 promo
> 
> For the record, I love The Twilight Zone. Old as it is and in black and white, it still has good lessons.

The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs, and explosions, and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, ideas, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy. A thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is, is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone Season 1, Episode 22 "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street"

 

Kara loved her father. That said, there were limits to what she was willing to do for him. 

“Father, I do not want a gene match.” Kara said as strongly as her ten year old form allowed.

“No?” Her father said.

“No. I want what you and mother have.”

Her father ran his hand through is blond hair. He looked at her. “Kara that might not be possible. Your mother is very insistent that we have you matched when you’re of age.”

“But I do not want it.” Kara protested. To be gene matched with a stranger? To be married an unknown person for the House and through her genes rather than her feelings? No, it was not what she wanted her life to be.

“Kara, we will not force you but it is important that you do go through with this.” Her father said. “As much as this pains me, we have already broken so many of the traditions of my House. You will take your examinations to allow you entry into one of the guilds in a few years’ time and I know you will make us proud but that does not change this issue looming over us.”

Kara stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. “I will not change my mind. Time will not change that.”

Her father sighed, then smiled softly. He shook his head. “My daughter, my light, if that is truly what you wish, I will try to sway your mother.”

Kara looked up at him imploringly. “It is how I feel. I swear it.”

“You are stubborn.” He bent down and kissed her forehead. “The House of El runs strong in you.”

Kara gave him a hug and smiled as her pulled away. She turned to leave his study when the door opened.

Kara giggled as she ran and bounced into her uncle’s waiting arms. “Uncle!” She said happily.

Non chuckled as he spun her around. “Kara.” He said. “What an unexpected gift.” 

Kara gave him the brightest smile she could muster. Her uncle mirrored her wide toothy grin. 

“Non.” In an instant, her uncle’s smile dropped hard. A dark look flashed across his eyes. Kara sensing the changed atmosphere wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt her uncle breathe hard against her ear. 

“Zor-El.” He said stiffly.

Kara peeked at her father. He was smiling slightly but its usual warmth was absent. His eyes were locked squarely at her uncle. “How did your mission go?” He asked conversationally.

“Well enough.” Her uncle responded tensely. “The laborers had taken control of the mine but they were lightly armed. Resistance was minimal.” Kara could feel him coil into himself, squeezing her uncomfortably tight. 

Her father cocked his head in interest. “How many?” He looked expectantly for her uncle to respond.

“I do not want to speak more of this.” Her uncle said tensely. 

Her father looked at him taken aback. “Non-” He protested. 

“Zor-El, with all due respect, I am holding your young daughter in my arms.” Kara turned away from her father and dug into her uncle’s neck. “She is far too old already. I will speak no more.”

“Very well.” She heard him say, a lick of confusion coloring his voice. “I expect a detailed report soon.”

Her uncle nodded harshly. “And you will have it.”

“Good, good.” She listened as he made his way past them and, just a step out through the doorway, his footsteps stopped. “Non.” He said.

“Yes?” 

“You would do well to remember where you stand.” Kara, even with her youth, could feel the ice in those words.

“You as well.” Her uncle said strongly. “We both have connections, Zor-El.”

With one last look, her father left her in her uncle’s arms. Cautiously, Kara lifted her head and peeked at her uncle. His face was tight, eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

“Uncle Non?” She said timidly. Slowly, her uncle came back to her.

“I am sorry Kara. I did not mean for you to see that.” 

“It is alright.” It wasn’t and they both knew it. 

Her uncle set her down. He fell to one knee and inclined his head. “I pray to Rao that you do not follow your father’s footsteps, Kara.” She heard him whisper.

“Uncle Non?” 

He raised his head at shook it. “No, it is nothing. Forget I said anything dear.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Now, would my little niece like to go to the Crystalline Forest?” 

Immediately, all thought of the strange encounter vanished from her mind and excitement took its place.“Really?”

“Of course.”

…  
Rick Malverne was not a happy person on good days. He was much less happy when his favorite spot to waste away his lunch period was occupied because it meant only one thing. 

Hands snug inside his worn hoodie, he walked towards the hideaway.

"Kid, what are you doin' here?" Rick asked.

Not far from the school just out of range from the mob of his classmates and just barely touching the forest, he saw Kara sat huddled against a tree with her knees locked within her arms and tear tracks outlined on her puffy face. 

"It is too loud.” She whispered. 

"Too loud huh?” He walked toward a tree in front of hers, turned and slid down the trunk until he hit the ground. He adjusted himself so he was sitting comfortably at the base. “I get that. They call ya ‘special’. The other kids make fun of you ‘cause you aren’t like them.”  
Kara looked at him and nodded.

“Listen kid, it’s gonna be hard on you.” He said, voice laced with knowing, tired tint. “Adults, they’ll tell you stupid shit like to ignore it, to talk to them and get to know ‘em better like that’ll magically fix everything.” 

He paused. He looked down at his hands as they began to curl. He swallowed harshly. “Most of the time that won’t do shit.”

“Then what can I do?” Kara said timidly. 

He looked her straight in the eye. “You gotta remember who you are. Sounds easy don’t it?”

Kara looked at him. 

He shook his head. “It isn’t. It’s probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do. When everyone’s putting you down and making you feel like shit, you gotta be strong enough to pull yourself up before you drown.”

“By myself?”

Rick scoffed softly. He tilted his head back against the rough bark. “You’re lucky.” He said softly. “You don’t got to go it alone now do ya?”

“Alex?”

“Bingo.”

“Bingo?” Kara asked curiously.

He nodded to himself knowingly. “Just an expression, kid. It means that you got the answer right.”

“Ok.” 

The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence. 

“I like it.” Kara said suddenly.

“Like what?” 

“The birds.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Where I’m from, there were none. The sky was quiet. Mute.” 

“I like them too. My dad, he and I would go take pictures of ‘em. Dozens and dozens of them and of all kinds of colors.” Rick smiled fondly. “He’d say, “Ricky, wanna know why birds chirp and sing? It’s because they’re happy. They sing because they have nothing stopping them from flying high in the sky and from resting low on the trees. They’re free, Ricky. No chains, no nothin’. Free.”’

“Where is he now?” Kara asked.

Rick sighed. “He did something bad and he had to go away.”

“Oh.” 

“Mom isn’t all that great but it’s ok. I still got the pictures me and my dad took. Even got the camera but it went bust a couple months ago.”

“Maybe Alex can fix it.”

Rick laughed. “Maybe if she didn’t hate me.”

“She does not hate you.”

“It’s ok kid. I don’t need her to like me.”

Soon enough, the distant forms of their classmates disappeared into the small school. 

Rick stood up. “We should be going. Breaks almost over.”

“I do not want to.”

“Well, you’re shit outta luck kid.” Rick tilted his head and watched as Alex marched toward the pair. “Looks like your big sis is comin’ over and she doesn’t look all that happy.” 

“Rick.” She said menacingly.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Chill, why won’t ya?”

Alex poked him hard on the chest. “Where’s Kara?”

Rick rolled his eyes. “Where she always is when she’s not with you.” Alex turned and looked at Kara.

“Alex.” She said tearfully. 

“Kara, what are you doing here?”

“I-” Kara started.

Alex shook her head. “No forget it. Come on. You have to get to class.” She grabbed Kara’s arm, intent on pulling her up. 

Rick shook his head. “Classic Danvers.”

Alex turned to him frustrated. “What are you talking about?”

“For someone so smart, you’re fucking blind. Just look at her.” He exclaimed.

Alex looked down at Kara. Tears had begun falling in earnest. “Kara?” Alex asked softly.

“Please Alex. I do not want to go.”

“Just call your parents.” Rick told Alex. “I’m sure they’ll come for her.”

Alex turned to him, her eyes unsure. Her voice shook. “They’re…they’re out of town. They can’t come.”

Rick looked down and kicked the ground. He turned back to Alex. “Just take her home.” Rick saw the indecision on her face. “Go. You don’t need to go to class anyway. You're probably smart enough to teach it.”

Alex turned back to Kara, still crying softly. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s go home Kara.” 

They turned to leave. 

Rick called out. “Oh and Alex?” He shot her a knowing look. “Keep an eye on her.”

…

"Winn, I'm fine.”

Winn looked at her exasperated "I know, I know. I was just saying that we should totally hang out.”

"It's not because Max told you to.” Kara asked suspiciously. 

"No, of course not.” Kara looked at him. “Ok it might have been suggested but I really do wanna hang out. You've been so busy doing the thing that you do and I had to do maintenance for the servers and Ms. Grant has been meaner than usual and she didn't like my tie and it's my favorite tie, look it has Snoopy on it, who doesn't like Snoopy?” 

"Winn…”

"And we could order a couple pizzas and watch Warehouse 13 or Stargate or do something else because we could totally do something else.”

"Winn…”

"Oh, or we could play monopoly but you're definitely not going to be the banker because remember how well it ended up last time.” He said wagging his finger in her face.  


Kara swatted it away. "Winn, I’m an excellent banker.” 

"It's ok not to be good at something. And that thing for you is being an honest banker.” He said reassuringly. 

"I,” Kara said seriously “…am just being authentic.”

"Kara.” Winn said disapprovingly.

"Kiera!” Both of them jumped as Ms. Grant yelled across the room.

"Looks like Ms. Grant is very good mood right now.” Winn said with a little clap. Kara chuckled. “So I’ll see you at 8 ok? Ok!” He said happily as he walked back to his cubicle. 

“Winn, I want ice cream!” Kara said as she raced to Ms. Grant’s office.

Winn smiled to himself. “Done and done.”

….  
Drowning in paperwork, Maggie was very happy when her desk phone rang.

Leaning back in her chair she answered. “Hello, this is Detective Sawyer, how can I help you?” She said.

“Well Detective. I’m calling in regards to a mutual acquaintance of ours.” Maggie’s eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. Something about the voice she was hearing sounded off. She was fairly confident the voice was being modified.

“Really?” She said lightly. “And this mutual acquaintance of ours would be someone fond of midnight walks now would it?”

“Along with inscribed metal plating, yes.” 

Confirming they were on the same page, she continued. “So what’s this all about?”

“Well, I’ve heard of certain individuals have been…sniffing around our esteemed Police Department.” The voice said carefully.

Vagueness in mind, Maggie continued the conversation. “Rest assured those individuals aren’t getting much but whispers and rumors.”

“Ah, but you and I both know rumors are more than enough to tempt curious cats.”

“So you got something to lead them astray?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then the point of this call is for what?” Maggie asked confused.

“The point, Detective Sawyer, is to be alert about the pieces at play. Time is running out. They, along with everyone in the city and beyond, will find out what we hide and when that time comes, our acquaintance will need as much protection as they possibly can.”

“If they’re loved by the city’s Police and citizenry, then they’re untouchable.”

“Not quite.”

“No?”

“There are different ways to rein in and control the untouchable, Detective. Sometimes the shackles aren’t always physical. As you well know, they’re sense of duty is stronger than self-preservation.” 

Maggie drummed her fingers on her desk. “This has been very productive call.” She said finally.

The voice chuckled. “Likewise, Detective. Perhaps another time then.”

“’til next time.” 

Maggie put her phone down and looked down at her desk. It looked less appealing than it did before the phone call. Maggie sighed. Resigned to her impending boredom, she moved to grab her pen. 

“Who was that?” 

Maggie jumped a bit in her seat, startled by the sudden voice. She turned then scoffed. “I wasn’t aware the FBI was interested in CIs. Agent Danvers”

Agent Danvers shrugged her shoulders. “I was just curious Detective.”

Maggie nodded, not believing the Agent’s claim on bit. “Right, so if you would just leave me to my bureaucratic nightmare…”

The Agent looked at her with a closed expression. “I’ll just leave you to it then.”

Maggie gave the Agent a fake smile as she walked away. Maggie sighed.

“What a mess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really liking Supergirl's Season 3.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.


	4. Injustice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My yearly update is here. I hope y'all enjoy it. (Hopeful, that's just a joke but I might get hit with the case of the lazies again)

_Krypton_

Non walked swiftly through the metallic walls of the Military Guild. There was a beehive of activity, healers and the wounded alike raced down the hall. The screams of dying and the smell of the dead assaulted his senses.

Squads of heavily armored guard members ran past. Non glimpsed the insignias on their chests. Argoian in design if he wasn’t mistaken.

Seeing his second, he walked over. “What is going on?” he said harshly.

“Casualities from a Daxamite raid, sir.” Vet-Kel responded stiffly. “A large contingent of the Agro City defense force was conducting an unauthorized inspection on Kandorian work crews. It is believed that the Daxamites may have taken the opportunity to catch them unawares and launch a surprise offensive.”

“And?” Non prompted. Vet-Kel shook her head. “They were very successful, I am sorry to report.” Her voice was coated in disgust and barely contained anger.

Along with giving the Daxamites a victory, the Argoians had violated Kandor’s sovereignty in nosing in affairs that were of no concern to them. The Rankless work crews may hold no importance but they are nevertheless Kandorian.

“With a Vex in charge of their Guild, it was only a matter of time that his recklessness got his people killed.” Non said venomously.

“Aye, sir. I cannot imagine no less than his head will satisfy the Council this time.”

“I imagine that more than just that Vex’s head will fall for this.” Non said darkly. “Now, where is General Astra?”

“I believe she is in her office.” Vet-Kel said casually. “Perhaps you should go appraise her. I have everything well in hand here.” She said gesturing at the organized chaos around them.

Non nodded agreeably. “I shall.”

He made his way to her room far beyond the mess in the main building. The sound dulled then quieted all together saved for the heavy foot falls of patrolling guards. He made it to her door and knocked. Hearing nothing, he cautiously made his way inside.

He found her at her desk, her back to him and her head in her hands.

“How many?” He said gently.

“How many what, husband?” She said coldly. “How many Rankless were put down today in the name of peace? How many trainees we have sent off with inadequate training or is the number you seek how many we have lost.”

She laughed coldly. She shook her head and turned to look at him.

“Perhaps you speak of how many tremors shook the ground under our feet so much that we could scarcely stand. Or is the number you seek the amount of arrests we served for suspected ‘Daxamite collaboration’ or ‘unauthrized examinations of critical geological information’?”

“No.” He looked at her softly. “How many hours has it been since you have rested?”

She looked away from him. “I am fine.”

“No,” He said as he moved to embrace her. “You are not fine.”

“I am glad.” She whispered.

He drew back and looked at her. “For what?”

“That the Council rejected our petition.” She said shakily.

Non looked at her aghast. “Wife…”

“No, husband. It is for the best.” She choked out. “These are troubled times we live in and I am not sure we will be able to endure.”

“Astra…”

“I speak the truth Non and you very well know it.” Astra said forcefully. “Otherwise, you would not help such a man with his ghastly experiments.”

“Zor-El is the head of his house and houses a brilliant mind.” Non said defensively, then deflated. He sighed and shook his head. “I fear he has lost his way”

“What do you mean?”

“I do not know but I believe he has plans for Kara. He has been speaking to various council members in secret, such so that not even my ears may reach.”

“What sort-” Astra asked alarmed.

“I do not know and it is driving me mad, Astra!” Non said angrily. “I tried to speak to Alura, Jor-El even Lara but they do not hear me.” Frustration oozed out of his words.

“Non, look at me.” Astra said, putting her hands at either side of his face. He complied, the fear clear in his eyes. “We will find out and we will protect Kara.”

“I fear it is too late.” He said ominously. “Far too late.”

….

_Midvale_

Alex sat in front of the TV mindlessly flipping through channels and finding nothing interesting enough to grab her attention. Not having the energy to bother pretending, she switched it off and made her way in to the kitchen.

She opened the pantry, took stock of the food that her parents remembered to buy, and decided that simple pot of spaghetti was on the menu for the night. She grabbed the pack of noodles and paused when she saw the cake mix behind the packet. She thought for a few seconds, bouncing from leg to leg before grabbing the cake mix as well.

‘Kara’s had a bad day and it isn’t especially hard to make.’ Alex reasoned to herself.

No sooner had she put the cake in the oven she heard a knock on the door.

“Coming.” Alex yelled. She walked swiftly and looked through the peephole. She instantly recognized who was on the other side of the door. She jerked her head down and rested it her forehead again the wood. She couldn’t help a sliver of fear that shot down her spine.

She fidgeted in front of the door, frozen in indecision.

There was another knock, softer than the last. “Alex?” The voice said. “It’s Sheriff David. I want to talk to you.”

Having no realistic choice in ignoring the man, Alex plastered a fake smile on her face and opened the door.

“Hi, Sheriff. How can I help you?” She said. She winced internally, the cheerfulness of her voice sounded far too fake to her own ears.

Sheriff David at her, his brown hat held in his hands in front of him. “Word from your teachers is that you didn’t make it back to afternoon classes. Neither did your sister, uh, Kiera is it?”

“Her name’s Kara.” Alex supplied nervously.

He nodded his head. “Right. Now might you go on telling me why that is?”

Alex’s smile became more and more strained. “She wasn’t feeling all that well.”

“And your folks aren’t around to come pick her up, are they?” He said matter of factly.

Alex said nothing. Her head drooped and she looked away.

“Alex.” Sheriff David said strongly.

“No, sir.” Alex said quietly.

Sheriff David stared at her. “Is that true?” he asked.

“What?” Alex asked confused.

“That Kara wasn’t feeling well.”

“Yes, sir.” Alex said. “She’s…sensitive and it got to be too much for her.”

He looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. “Ok.” He said simply.

Alex looked at him in astonishment. “Ok?”

“Yup,” he said with a small smile making it onto his face. “I trust you wouldn’t lie to my face. I hope that I’m not wrong.”

“No, sir.” Alex said “I’m telling the truth, I swear.”

“Just so you remember Alex, Claire and I live right there,” he said jabbing his thumb behind him. “If you and Kara need anything, we’re right there and next time you both decide you don’t want to go to class, have the school call me. I’ll get ya home.”

“Ok.” Alex mumbled out, too shocked to say much else.

He turned and left.

Gently, Alex closed the door. Silently, she locked the deadbolt into place. She leaned her head against the door, closed her eyes and took several calming breaths. Once she felt the panic subside, she opened them and slowly made her way back to the kitchen.

“Alex?” Kara said meekly.

Alex stopped dead in her tracks. She looked over to Kara. She was playing with her glasses, her eyes flicking back and forth from her to the floor from the top steps of the stairs.

“Yes Kara?”

“I am sorry.”

Alex shook her head vehemently. “No, Kara. It’s fine.” She walked up the steps and sat next to her sister. She took Kara’s into her own and squeezed them as tightly as she could. “They understand so we don’t have much to worry about. Ok?”

“Why?” Kara asked confused.

“Because everyone knows my mom and dad.”

Everyone knew as well as her; they’ve never been ones to stick around.

….

_National City_

Kara stretched out on the couch, flipping between channels. She sighed, yesterday’s melancholy mood still clinging to her. She sneaked a glance at the clock.

A quarter till.

Having enough, she turned off the TV and rested her arm across her face. She’s alive where so many others were not. The life she had been promised and prepared for ripped away from her. She has a sister that doesn’t speak to her; a blood cousin that she’d barely reconnected with.

But…

She has a good life. She has friends that basically have become family. She has a city that has become her home. She has people to protect with her own two hands. She lives in a world that's young, vibrant and full of life. It's chance to live a life she would never had gotten to live on Krypton. Was it really fair for her to waste in wallowing?

A knock of the door brought her out of her thoughts.

Her bare feet barely made contact with the floor as she raced to the door. Pausing only long enough to open her door, she eagerly took the gallon tub of ice cream, passed by to grab a spoon from her cabinet, threw herself on the couch and dug in all in the span of 2 seconds.

Winn laughed as he set down all the snacks on the counter. He grabbed himself a bag of twizzlers, walked to the couch and wiggled until Kara had given enough space to allow him to lay on his back with his legs dangling over the armrest.

“Kara?” Winn said hesitantly.

“Yes Winn?”

“You ok?”

“Yeah,” Kara said softly. “I’m fine.”

“You know, it’s ok not to be ok right?”

Kara shot him a small smile. “Thanks Winn.”

“So,” Winn said changing the subject. “What did Ms. Grant want?”

Kara glanced at him, far more interested in the ice cream he’d brought. “Oh, she was getting her mail unopened.”

Winn shot her a sympathetic look. “Another assistant gone, I take it?”

“Yup.” Kara nodded. “At least this one managed to hold on for almost two months.”

“Back to temp?”

“Nope.”

Winn looked at her surprised. “No?”

“I started having people put on reserve for a couple weeks now. I could see that he wasn’t going to last long.”

Given the constant shakes the poor man had whenever Ms. Grant came in his general vicinity, Kara had already been considering alerting HR of a possible mental health issue and force him out for his own good.

Winn snorted. “Of course you do.” He jabbed a twizzler in her direction. “Sometimes I think that you would be the only one that could survive Ms. Grant.”

“I’m just building security. Just because I’m good at doing my job doesn’t mean I would last as assistant.”

“Stop selling yourself short, Kara.” Winn looked around as if looking for any eavesdropping ears. “I wanna let you in on a secret,” Winn whispered while motioning Kara to come closer. “Ms. Grant likes you.”

Kara scoffed and nudged Winn away. “She tolerates me.”

“Yeah and Ms. Grant totally lets me pick up Carter all by myself and watch him when his sitter is out or to vet her potential assistants to make sure they don’t kill her.” Winn said, rolling his eyes.

“That’s just a part of my job.”

“I know for a fact that letting Carter paint in your office isn’t a part of the security business.” Kara opened her mouth to resort when she heard the sound of a familiar set of footfalls walk off the elevator and head towards her door. She bolted from her seat leaving the ice cream on the couch.

She let out a squeal of delight. “Max, you’re here!” She exclaimed. “I thought you were busy.”

“Kara, Kara, Kara,” Max said while shaking his head. “What did I promise you?”

“Fridays is always family day?”

Max flipped his hair dramatically. “And I am most definitely a man of my word.” Kara laughed and nudged his shoulder. He walked back several steps exaggeratedly. “Kara,” he started, wagging a finger in her direction. “Have you been hitting the gym lately because, whoa, that was one helluva push Little Miss.”

“Whatever, Max.”

“Hey Max!” Winn yelled from his position from the couch.

“Hiya Winny!” Max exclaimed. Winn tossed a twizzler in his direction.

“No, that is not becoming a thing.”

“It can be our thing. Come on Winny.” Winn responded by throwing the entire pack at Max. Kara laughed

. ….

Kara moved silently, hovering slightly above the ground preventing her heavy boots from thumping on the cracked concrete.

She rounded a corner and saw an off-worlder loitering against the opposing wall. She lifted her gloved hand, palm inward and hand clenched. The alien smiled widely showing off an impressive mouthful of pointed teeth and mirrored the gesture.

She continued her patrol, climbing up on buildings, shadowing across rooftops, and ghosting through alleyways keeping watch over the midnight revelers looking for a good time and nighttime workers just trying to make ends meet.

Occasionally, sensitive aliens would glance in her direction only to lose interest once they’d recognized her.

Some of the more observant humans and less sensitive aliens also noticed her, some waving hello and others far less receptive of her presence, glaring until they wandered out of her sightline.

Her regulars, people that she’d see every night she was out, she make sure to greet personally with a nod and the occasional escort home. Kara smiled thinking perhaps her nightly rounds would be uneventful for once.

Her ears twitched as a peculiar sound registered. She stopped and focused in on the sound. She could hear the distinctive sound of a fist hitting flesh. She turned her head in the direction of the sound.

_Thump_

A whimpered cry echoed in her brain.

_Thump_

She ran off the roof and landed hard on the ground. Knees bend, she jumped high into the air in the general direction of the sound before landing on an building. She scanned the area before locking on a large figure standing over another. The large figure raised its arm aiming at the one on the ground.

She took off again locked on her target. She flew just high enough to clear the apartment buildings then fell feet first down.

_Thump_

She crashed down on the alien’s head hard. Kara could feel the bony scales of the alien’s body crack under the pressure of her boots and it fall hard on the ground but she paid it no mind. Her attention shifted to the person it was beating. They looked like a miniature version of their tormentor.

They had a humanoid like body, bony plates peppered soft grey skin. A green substance leaked all over the pavement.

As carefully as she could, she picked them up and brought them close to her chest.

She took off into the sky as gently as she could and, after a short flight, landed just beyond the Warehouse District in front of a nondescript brick building.

She kicked the metal door. The slit in the door opened slightly before slamming shut. Quickly, the door swung open and two humans came running out with a stretcher. Carefully, Kara set them down on it and ran in with the attendants.

“What can you tell me?” One of them asked.

They entered into a room full of medical equipment both human and off world in origin. A swarm of people poured in and Kara quickly answered. “Unknown species, unknown sex. I found them being beaten by another of the same species, possibly a relative.”

“Alright, we can take it from here.” One of the doctors called out.

“Understood.” She said. Briskly, she walked out of the building. She heard the door close behind her.

She looked down at her chest plate. Slowly, she raised her gloved hand to it and tentatively brushed the metal. Her anger grew as green blood appeared on her fingers.

She took a deep breath, then another and then another.

When she was finally calm enough to fly, she went back to look at the other alien. She found him breathing evenly. The scales that she had cracked when she had landed on it scarcely bled so she figured that it’ll be alright.

Not knowing how to proceed, she flew to the only person she knew she could ask. She landed on Maggie’s open window, made her way inside and shook the woman awake.

Maggie groaned as she forced herself awake. She stretched and rubbed her face.

“What?” she croaked out.

“Maggie, how do I go about taking a child abuser to jail?” All traces of sleep instantly evaporated. She sat up and sat at the edge of her bed.

“Ok, human or off-worlder?”

“Off-worlder.”

Maggie’s slumped. She shook her head.

“That case to decide whether aliens have rights or not is still just moving up the chain. Might be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming months. Until then, it’s murky on what to do with all the alien criminals. While most of our department does have this crazy idea that they do have rights, there are some that would just love to toss them to the Feds and be done with it.”

“So it’ll will better off just taking them to a halfway house?” Kara said incredulously.

“I can’t tell you to do that, kid. What I want you to do is to bring them in so we can send that asshole to prison but to do that…”

“Maggie?” Maggie sighed.

“By bringing them in, then the kid’ll have to testify. There’ll have to be medical records of the alleged abuse but that’ll mean the kid is chancing indefinite detention along with the son of a bitch for being an illegal alien.”

“This sucks, Maggie. It really does.” Kara said dejectedly.

“I know it does. I hate it as much as you do.” “I’ll make sure they’re safe. Sorry to bother you.”

Maggie waved away the apology. “No, no, if anything maybe I’ll finally convince the stiffs to create an alien specific division with people that actually gives a damn.”

“Think they’d go for it?” Kara asked hopefully.

“They might be warming seats but I just got to remind them that they’re still cops and I think I can pull it off.” Maggie said, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

“Ok.”

“Stay safe.” Maggie called out.

Kara turned back and waved. “You too, Maggie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by SyFy's Krypton for motivating me to finish writing this chapter with an honorable mention to the horrifying fact that it's turning out that Karamel is edging toward being Endgame and the fact that while I haven't seen the actual episode yet, the 3X14 promo is the fuckin' incredible.


	5. Rise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be still my heart, it's only been a month between updates. I'm proud of myself. Before we begin, I wanna remind y'all that I'm drawing inspiration from the comics, the liveaction show, SyFy's Krypton and my own imagination

_Krypton_

Kara raced down the familiar halls of the military guild. She expertly navigated and weaved through the busied bodies of guards and intelligence officials, her booted feet smacked hard on the hard floor. She ran until an unexpected set of arms reached around a corner and lifted her off the ground.

“Now Little El, where might you be going?”

Kara giggled. She looked up at the large dark skinned man. She drew him into a hug, his neatly pressed uniform felt familiarly rough against her skin. She rubbed her cheek on the red fabric, enjoying the comforting safety she felt from the man. “I came to see you Uncle Zod.”

Dru-Zod scoffed chidingly. “Child, remember where you are.”

Kara blinked. Recognition passed over her face on her error. She wiggled, motioning that she wanted to be put down. Dru obliged and then let out an amused chuckle as Kara inclined her head with her arm bent straight at the elbow and her fist over the center of her chest. “I mean, I came to see you Primus Zod.”

“Much better,” said Dru approvingly. “Now, what do you need of me?”

Kara frowned. “I thought we were going to train again.”

Dru looked over her critically. She had worn a white sleeveless over tunic with the El symbol was stamped onto the front right with form fitting tan pants tucked into a pair of light colored boots. He hummed. “May we make a warrior out of you yet, Little El.”

Kara shot him a wide grin and skipped toward the direction of the training rooms. Five minutes later, the pair walked into a large arena.

The rectangular room was surrounded on all sides by spectator seating typically empty outside of the tournaments held at every start of a new cycle. The floor was divided in twenty sections marking the allotted space for sparring and training done by the Prospects looking to secure their place among the esteemed Guard as well as those looking to hone their skills. 

Dru and Kara made their way to the farthest most section from the entrance. Dru took off his coat, placing it flat on the ground, leaving him with a simple sleeveless black shirt. Next, he methodically removed his weapons from his person leaving an impressively large pile of blades and a blaster on said coat. Lastly, he removed his boots, leaving him barefoot against the polished stone floor.   

He turned and faced Kara. Kara had adopted a pose she’d seen Prospects who awaited their trainers’ lessons to begin with a slight modification. Where others would wait on one knee and rise when instructed, Kara had remained on her feet. Her eyes were locked straight ahead. Her left arm griped her right shoulder with her right arm hanging down with her hand balled into a fist.

“Who stands before me?” Dru asked tonelessly.

“Kara Zor-El.” Kara responded promptly.

“Why do you stand before you are acknowledged?”

“I am an El. Father says I kneel for no one.”

Dru’s eyes narrowed. “There have been many times I have allowed your discourtesy but no more.” He said steel in his voice. “Today is your eighth cycle of life. From this point on, I will begin to train you properly and I will see that you earn the right to your name.”

Silence reigned. Kara looked at him with her wide, innocent eyes and he saw the internal struggle of uncertainty and the need to prove herself battle within her.

 “How will I do that?” She said with an undercurrent of uncertainty hidden in her voice.

“By learning what it means to be weak so you understand what it takes to be strong.” Dru said as he walked towards her.

He stood in front of her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She was surprised at the weight he had behind her grip. Slowly, the weight grew to a point where she struggled against it and couldn’t help but fall to her knees.

“…and we will start with treating like a no name Prospect.”

….

_Metropolis_

Lena stared out her balcony at the setting Metropolis sun.

She’d never thought she’d ever call this office her own. All her life, she envisioned heading up the R&D department in the European offices with Lex basking in the CEO’s seat here in Metropolis. Their mother would preen over her little boy while Lena would be free to do as she pleased.

It never would’ve crossed her mind that her brother would end up on the news in shackles for trying to kill Superman with a machine of his own creation. A machine made to disturb the ground and mimic the effect of an earthquake, taking the lives of innocent people in the process, all done to lure Superman into a trap.

The subsequent battle with Lex and his mechanized suit turned out quite clearly in Superman’s favor.

Then, she hadn’t counted on the board to move against her mother and oust from the company leaving her the last Luthor standing and in the CEO’s office all in the matter of a few days.

A knock on her door drew her attention. She moved against the open balcony door she’d been leaning on and made her way to her seat, composing herself. “Come in.” she said.

“Miss Luthor?” Jess said hesitantly. “Ms Aries would like to speak with you.”

“Send her in.”

Her CFO walked in, her face pinched in concern. She walked past the heavy desk, motioned to her to stand and when she complied, she felt herself being drawn into a tight hug. “Lena, how are you doing?” Her friend asked worried.

Lena pushed her away gently. “I’m fine-“

“Bullshit.” Sam interrupted. “I’m not the press or the board. You can be honest with me, Lena. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Lena sighed. She had gotten so used to stuffing down her feels in the face of the horde of people over the last few days that it was difficult to let down her walls.

“Yes, of course you are.” She slumped back into her seat.

Sam sat on the corner of the desk. “Lena, talk to me.”

“It’s hard to be hated. My last name is toxic now. Every time I go outside of this office, I can feel everyone’s eyes watching me,” Lena said pleading for Sam to understand. “They’re just watching and waiting to see if I’d suddenly turn into my brother.”

Sam sympathized. Over the years, she’d seen firsthand the dwindling reputation of the Luthor family as Alexander’s and Lillian’s increasingly bigoted view on aliens translated in the backing of equally horrendous politicians and their policies with the Luthor dollar was broadcasted throughout the media.

Regardless of her distance for the main office, Lena was never really given a chance separate herself from them leaving most to wrongly assume so was no different than them.

An upside to this whole mess, not that Lena saw it, is finally she will have a chance to be seen as something other than just another Luthor and Sam was going to make sure of that.

“Lena, you are not your brother.” Sam said reassuringly. She grabbed Lena’s hand and took them in her own.  “What he did does not in any way reflect on you.”

Lena shook her head. “Just because I know that doesn’t make me feel better, Sam.”  

Lena sighed, pulling her hands away from her friend. “It doesn’t matter now. All I know is that I won’t let my father’s company fail.”

“What are you thinking?”

Lena looked Sam directly in the eye. “We’re relocating, starting fresh, and changing our portfolio.”

Sam could honestly say that she had not been expecting that. “Relocating might do us good but changing our portfolio? That’s going to be considerably more difficult.”

“Yes, I know we can’t just drop all our ongoing contracts but I want to phase out our weapon manufacturing divisions as soon as possible.” Lena said determined.

She had never liked that her father’s business had turned more towards the Military Defense sector under Lex’s direction. In hindsight, he had probably done it in order to wave away suspicion from himself. If anyone noticed he was researching and building weapons technology or hording high quality materials, they’d just assume it was for a client.

Sam nodded slowly. “That’s doable but it’s going to be difficult to convince the board. That division brings in a lot of our revenue and unless you have something to replace it-”

“Renewable energy and medical research.” Lena interrupted.

Sam paused. “Beneficial and good publicity. It’ll definitely help us separate Luthor Corp from Lex.” Sam said slowly. Nodding her head in approval, she looked at Lena with a smile playing on her lips. “Well, you’re just lucky that we’re a private company. All you have to convince a bunch of stuffy suits and you’re good to go.”

“Sam?” Lena smiled playfully. “You do know your wearing a suit as well.”

Sam’s smile dropped into a frown and looked at Lena slightly offended. “Are you saying I look stuffy?”

Lena tilted her head and eyed the aforementioned suit. “Well…”

Another knock on the door drew the two women’s attention.

“Jess?” Lena called out, confused about the interruption. “What is it now?”

“Mr. Mathews is here.” Jess said, only sticking her head partially into the room. “Should I let him in?”

“Yes.” Lena said brow furrowed.

Jess stepped out of the room only for a man to walk in. Dressed in jeans and donning a leather jacket, the clean shaven man looked well out of place in the formal atmosphere the smartly dress women and minimalist office provided.

The man waved back through the door at Jess and gently closed the door. He turned around and shot Lena and Sam a big smile.

“Mon-El?” Lena said inquisitively.

“Lena!” Mon-El exclaimed enthusiastically.

“I’m here too.” Sam interrupted amused.

Mon-El chuckled loudly. “Yup. Sam is right there.”

Lena and Sam shared a look, both of them noting Mon-El’s odd behavior.

“Right,” Lena said flatly. “Why are you here?”

“Well,” Mon-El said jumping nervously from foot to foot. “You asked me to look into potential places right? For the new headquarters or something.”

Lena groaned. Ever since she’s known the Daxamite, he had the amazing talent of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Lena shot the Daxamite a dirty look which he responded with his usual clueless grin.

Ugh.

“Wait,” Sam interrupted. She looked at Lena incredulously. “You’re moving the main office? And you asked him to look around before telling me?”

Lena raised her hands in front of herself. “I only started to look around because I knew you were going to agree with me. We both know it’s in the best thing for this company not to remain in Metropolis. Lex’s recent actions aside, this company hasn’t been the most upstanding company in the city for years so why make it harder than it already is? I figured that a new city would be more open to a changed Luthor Corp.”

Sam huffed but reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. “Be that as it may, as CFO, I’m going to go with you when you go and I would like at least a little input into where we’re going.”

Lena knew her irritation stemmed more from the mom part of her than the CFO part. Lena had witnessed over the years have much she loved her daughter but she couldn’t help but feel slightly offended at Sam’s unintentional instigation that she would, in any way, put Ruby in harms’ way.

“Of course Sam. I was actually hoping to get your opinion on where we would pick but,” Lena turned to Mon-El. “I wasn’t actually expecting him to get back so soon.”

Mon-El’s smile turned sheepish. “I wanted to stretch my legs a bit so…” Mon-El imitated a jumping figure with his left hand landing and taking off his right hand. “…a couple of hops and a couple hours in each city scoping out, I figured I got enough to narrow it down which ones we’d take a closer look at.”

“We were lucky that we’ve been in a different country than my mother and had her distracted with Lex but now you have to be more careful. Lord knows, she has all the time in the world to hover over everything I do now.”

“Yeah yeah.” Mon-El waved away Lena’s concern. “What can she do to me?”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Throw a lead pipe at you?”

Mon-El faltered then chuckled nervously. “Right so,” he said eager to change the subject. “Long story short, Central City is alright if a little boring, not much nightlife there. National City is a no go. Star City is basically Gotham lite so probably not the best place for new beginnings and all that.”

“Mon-El…” Lena began.

He continued as if he hadn’t heard her interruption. “Maybe Coast City if you really wanna be in the area.”

“Mon-El!”

“Oh!” Mon-El exclaimed excitedly. “How about Opal City? I hear that there’s one hell of a…”

“Mon-El.” He stopped “National City.” Lena stated looking pointedly at him.

His gazed dropped to the floor then he chanced a glance at her looking noticeably uncomfortable. “Uh, what about it?”

“Why is National City a no go?”

“Well, uh” Mon-El stuttered. “I heard some things…”

“What things?” Sam asked suspiciously.

“So, I have this buddy of mine. He travels around yea know. Doesn’t like to stay in one place too long because he tends to, uh, rub people the wrong way? Did I say that right? So, we got to drinking, sharing stories and what not like the old pals that we are…”

“Mon-El,” Lena said with a hard edge. “What is wrong with National City?”

“I think there’s another Kryptonian living there.” Mon-El blurted out.

Lena couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine. As if her family getting on Superman’s bad side wasn’t bad enough, there was possibly another El, family to the Man in Blue, to contend with as well.

Both Sam and Lena looked at him shocked. “What? I thought that Superman was the only survivor.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Sam asked cautiously.

Mon-El sighed and then nodded. “It looks like this one is another El. A real one, knows about what Krypton was like type of El.”

 “How do you know that?” Sam asked.

“It’s the way they dress.” At the confused look on both women’s face, he sighed.

“Before my time and during around the time of Brainic's attempt at taking Kandor-“

“I’m sorry, Brainic what?” Sam whispered to Lena.

“I’ll tell you in later.”

 “-Kryptonians weren’t very militaristic and were more a collection of city states than anything else. They preferred to settle disputes with diplomacy and whatnot and beyond the basic city guards, Krypton as a planet didn’t have a formal military force.

“Afterwards however,” Mon-El struggled to find the right words. “They changed.” He said finally.

“To get back to my point, a dark long sleeved coat with an embedded blue leather vest about knee high,” He said gesturing the approximate length. “All with a designed metal chest plate overlaid on top just screams Kryptonian highborn.” He paused for a moment before adding: “It was great at preventing successful assassination attempts. Mother was quite irate about them if I remember correctly.

“Now, how my buddy knew it was an El was because Kryptonians were very prideful in regard to their families and their House Crests. They’d put it everywhere. I mean they had a place to be put on either side on the upper arms and the fingerless gloves with cloth on the palms of the hands and leather on the reverse most definitely had the crest imprinted on them.

“Lo and behold, our mystery Kryptonian definitely had what you humans call an ‘S’ on each of the spots I mentioned.”

Lena looked at him critically. “Why are you so scared then? You aren’t this afraid of Superman.”

Mon-El hung his head. “He doesn’t know about anything about his home world because if he did, he wouldn’t have looked at me and not recognize me as the Daxamite Prince that time when he saved us a during that lab explosion a few years ago.”

Sam winced. The first time she’d met the pair was when she went to check the books at the Metropolis lab where Lena had been spending her time when she wasn’t in classes with her tagalong friend ‘Mike’. No sooner had she finished when an experiment in an adjacent sector had reacted unexpectedly volatile due to incorrect measurements.

The team had died near instantaneously and the flames of the resulting explosion overtook the surrounding area before they could be suppressed. She’d been disoriented in the resulting panic and had become lost in the unfamiliar building.

It had been blind luck that she’d run into Lena and Mon-El dizzy and choking on the suffocating smoke as they did their best t lead people out. Mon-El and Lena held her up from either side and were making their way to the stairwell when a beam dropped right in front of their path blocking their exit.

Before Mon-El had a chance to try to move it himself, the Man of Steel himself burst his way into the building and saved the trio himself. He had grabbed them all in a bear hug, squishing Sam in the middle, and took off from the same hole he’d made to waiting emergency personnel.

He had looked at each one of them, giving them that trademarked smile of his before rushing back into the burning building. Sam had laughed hysterically before being reduced to a coughing mess. Lena and Mon-El had then just took her into their little group, first due to their shared experience then evolving into a full fledging friendship.

Lena interrupted Sam’s unpleasant trip down memory lane.

“So what you’re saying is that this Kryptonian might actually know who you are and might kill you for it?” Lena looked at Mon-El thoughtfully.

Mon-El nodded his head enthusiastically. “So you see my dilemma right?”

“Yes. However-”

The strained smile that had been on Mon-El’s face just dropped. “Oh no.”

“You must know that this isn’t exactly great for me either but National City is the home to a good number of leading technology companies along with good number of our distributors and Luthor Corp already owns a building large enough for a new headquarters.”

“So what is this Kryptonian even doing running around anyways?” Sam questioned “I mean if they’re doing what Superman does, I doubt that they’d be the type to go after you.”

Mon-El paced in front of the women, unable to shrug off his nerves. “A Luthor is one thing. If my buddy was right, then this El will definitely want me dead.”

Sam noticed the man’s uncharacteristic panic. “Why are you so afraid? Is it because you both are the Kryptonian equivalent of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s?”

Mon-El shook his head. He stopped pacing and turned to face the door. “No.” He said quietly. “It’s much more personal than that.” He turned back to face the pair, tears threatening to fail. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sam made her way towards the man and hugged him as she’d done Lena not a few minutes ago. He dropped his head on her shoulder taking deep breaths as he tried to settle his emotions.

Lena looked on from her chair. She knew that it was far too dangerous to ask Mon-El to go to National City but even so, it didn’t change the fact that what the city offered was too much just to skip over what could be a non issue. No matter how she looked at it, there really was only one the only viable option.   

“I’ll go.” Lena saw as both her friends turned to look at her as if she had gone insane. They broke away from their hug and immediately walked right up to her desk.

“Lena-”

“Now what a minute-”

Lena raised her hand, silently asking for a chance to explain. “The only way to figure out if this Kryptonian isn’t going to come after Mon-El is to ask them directly. I can’t just ask a Luthor Corp employee to do it and Sam has Ruby to think about. I at least have some protection if only by that fact that my murder would be terrible for Alien-Human relations.”

“Your brother just tried to kill a relative of theirs. Come on, Lena.” Mon-El pleaded at her.

Sam looked at Lena aghast. “Lena don’t you hear yourself? You’re banking a super powered alien actively caring about Alien-Human relations.”

Lena stood up from her chair. She straightened up and tilted her head back slightly. A smirk made it way on to her face and a twinkle appeared in her eye. “Trust me.”

Mon-El sighed and Sam threw her arms up in defeat.

“After things settle down here, I will go to National City and I will talk to this Kryptonian and that is that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I'm going to ramble about the show here. 1. I was actually very excited about the Purity/Pestilence fight though it was a damn shame they died so quickly. Anyway. if y'all read the New 52 and just like they did in the show, using the Worldkillers' powers against each other was very much effective in hurting (or killing as it is) the Worldkillers. 2. It seems like James and Kara have switched their personalities in regards to Lena and I'm just left here scratching my head wondering what the hell is happening with their characterization. I think the SG writers have forgotten their own canon just for the sake of drama. 3. If spoilers are true, they might actually try to make Lena evil just to have the stereotypical Super Vs. Luthor and I am not here for that. In better news, they might be doing a Kandor/Argo City in a Bottle type storyline if only to save Alura and I am here for that. 4. #SaveLucifer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm real curious what y'all thought. Comments would be very much appreciated. Constructive criticism especially welcome.


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